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Carlisle man sent woman crude 'Nora Batty' letter - court

A 39-year-old man sent a malicious letter to a woman he used to harass after spotting her in Asda.

Robert Anderson made crude comments about sex and told the woman she had not aged well after spotting her in the supermarket on October 1.

Prosecutor Nigel Beeson told Carlisle magistrates how the woman had suffered harassment from him several years ago when he sent letters to her.

She had “recently returned to this part of the world”, he said, and saw him when she was waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up at Asda.

“She later went to work at Barclays and there was a letter, with a picture of her and her friend, and two sheets of A4,” Mr Beeson said.

“The first page talked about her ‘not being the hot girl you once were’.”

The second contained crude references about sex and women aging “like Nora Batty slowly rotting away” but claimed men could carry on having sex with “the fittest, hottest” women, he said.

The woman reported the letter to police and Anderson, a sales assistant, was interviewed.

“He explained that he drank alcohol every day which made him jokey and cheeky,” Mr Beeson said.

“He accepted he had written the letters using his word processor.”

Anderson, who lives in a flat in Warwick Road, admitted sending a malicious communication.

He said he intended to leave Carlisle in the next 12 months. He did not offer any explanation for his behaviour to the court.

Magistrates told him the offence was ‘nasty’ and ordered him to pay £500 compensation and £85 court costs. He was given a 12-month supervision order and a two-year restraining order banning him from contacting the woman.